A number of commercial polishing emulsion compositions are available. None however is particularly suited for the polishing of translucent or opaque plastics. The available compositions are primarily intended for use on metal or wood and contain wax, the wax being operative to impart a pleasing lustrous appearance to the wood or metal surface being polished and to provide a protective film against dirt and moisture. Carnauba, candelilla and beeswax are commonly used waxes. In the case of a translucent or opaque plastic a wax build-up is undesirable since it causes smearing and clouding of the plastic.
Several of the currently available polishing compositions contain an abrasive as well as a wax constituent. "Polishing" of the surface is achieved primarily by an abrasive action on the surface to remove soil and foreign matter and then a protective film of wax is placed on the cleaned surface. In the present invention the "polishing" effect is derived more from a general cleaning of the surface by the abrasive agent simultaneously with the filling of minute surface scratches by an acrylic filler ingredient and the like. Polishing a translucent or opaque plastic surface with a composition containing an abrasive but no filler material would result in the introduction of a multitude of microscopic scratches in the surface. A polishing effect would not occur; rather there would be a further clouding of the plastic. The composition of the present invention contains a filler as well as an abrasive agent so that tiny scratches are mended as the entire surface is cleaned. Although for the most part the ingredients employed have well-known characteristics, no successful method has been devised previously to formulate a non-wax polishing composition capable of achieving the desired results in a one-step operation. Removal of the minor scratches by filling with a clear, non-yellowing acrylic returns a shiny, unclouded appearance to the plastic. The combined abrading and filling action polishes out scratches leaving a renewed surface.